Rend Collective – Rescuer (Good News)

Starting in 2002, Rend Collective Experiment (now called Rend Collective) started as a, well, experimental band.  They started playing at Bangor Elim Church, comprising of over 15 musicians.  They signed with Kingsway and released their first album Organic Family Hymnal in 2010.  In 2012, they released Homemade Worship by Handmade People.  Though they had limited success with these two albums, they switched labels, releasing their first live album Campfire in 2013 and more successful The Art of Celebration in 2014.  The latter peaked at #1 on Billboard’s top Christian albums that same year.  In the same year, they released their first and only Christmas album, Campfire Christmas, Vol. 1.

In 2015, they switched labels again to Sparrow (owned by Capital CMG Publishing), releasing As Family We Go that same year, which also appeared on Billboard’s #1 album.  In 2016, they released their second live album, Campfire II: Simplicity.  In 2017, under the label Integrity, they released their first mixtape, Build Your Kingdom Here (A Rend Collective Mix Tape).  In 2018, under Sparrow, they released their eighth album, another #1 Billboard hit, Good News.  This review, Rescuer, comes from this album.

They have certainly been busy over these last eight years!

Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site!  Read About the Berean Test and Evaluation Criteria prior to reading this review.

1. What message does the song communicate?

Rend Collective celebrates God’s rescue of sinners from their eternal state of damnation caused by our sinful actions.  They provide the benefits of seeking Christ by appearing before the cross;  However, there is no mention of what God expects of us.  Even something as small as “twas grace that taught my heart to fear” would have been enough to give full credit for this section.

Following Jesus has a cost (Luke 14:25-33), something that I often find missing when artists sing about what God has done for us (or many Gospel presentations, for that matter).  Without cost, songs like this one give off a connotation that we can come to God whenever we want, He will fix our problems, and expects nothing of us in return.  This creates a major problem: false converts who live like devils and think they are saved from God’s wrath.  This song has some potential to feed into that mentality without challenging it, so we need to be careful how we use it.

The structure is standard, with the Chorus repeating after each verse and the Bridge and the bridge repeating once.

Score: 7/10

2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?

The entire song agrees with Scripture. Lyrics posted with permission.*

[Verse 1]

There is good news for the captive, good news for the shamed
There is good news for the one who walked away
There is good news for the doubter, the one religion failed
For the Good Lord has come to seek and save

The good news is described in the Chorus and the final line in this verse.  It is the Lord, who sets the captives free (Isaiah 61:1 and Luke 4:18), died for sinners (Romans 5:6-8), welcomes the wayward back home (Luke 15:11–32) and came to see seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10).

[Chorus]

He’s our rescuer
He’s our rescuer
We are free from sin forevermore

Not from the choice of committing sin, but rescues from sin, which causes eternal separation from God (Romans 6:23, Revelation 2:11, Revelation 20:6, Revelation 20:14-15, and Revelation 21:8).

Oh how sweet the sound
Oh how grace abounds

A reference to John Newton’s Amazing Grace.

We will praise the Lord our rescuer

The most appropriate response to God’s rescue is eternal praise and worship (see Nehemiah 9:5, Psalm 30:12, Psalm 52:9, Psalm 86:12, Psalm 89:1, Psalm 115:18, Psalm 145:1-2, Psalm 145:21, and Revelation 5:9-13).

[Verse 2]

He is beauty for the blind man, riches for the poor
He is friendship for the one the world ignores
He is pasture for the weary, rest for those who strive

While not limiting to these designations, the Lord is most certainly beautiful (1 Chronicles 16:29, Psalm 27:4, Psalm 29:2, and Isaiah 28:5-6), rich in mercy and compassion (Ephesians 2:4-10), a friend of sinners (John 15:13-15), a stronghold for the weak (Ruth 2:12, 2 Samuel 22:3-4, Psalm 3:3, Psalm 5:11, Psalm 18:30, Psalm 27:1, Psalm 32:7, Psalm 34:22, Psalm 41:2, Psalm 46:1, Psalm 57:1, Psalm 59:1, Psalm 61:3, Psalm 91:1-16, Psalm 118:8, Psalm 121:7-8, Psalm 138:7, Proverbs 18:10, Proverbs 30:5, Nahum 1:7, 2 Thessalonians 3:3, and 1 John 5:18), and in Him we enter His rest (Matthew 11:28-30 and Hebrews 4:1-13).

For the Good Lord is the way, the truth, the life
Yes the Good Lord is the way, the truth, the life (Hey!)

Quotes from John 14:6.

[Bridge]

So come and be chainless

That is, broken from the slavery of sin (see John 8:34, Romans 6:6-7, Romans 6:20-22, and 1 Corinthians 6:12).

Come and be fearless

Not fearless in the sense that we cease reverence from God, but that we no longer what fear what man can do to us (Psalm 56:11, Psalm 118:6, and Hebrews 13:6), having the attitude that this world’s troubles are momentary light affliction, which prepares us for the eternal weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).

Come to the foot of Calvary

That is, the foot of the cross, with a humble attitude, perhaps beating our breast and stating “have mercy on me, the sinner” (Luke 18:13).

‘Cause there is redemption
For every affliction
Here at the foot of Calvary

It is due to Christ’s death that forgiveness is available to us (see Isaiah 53:1-12, Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45, John 1:29, John 3:16, Acts 4:12, Acts 20:28, Romans 5:6-10, Romans 6:23, 1 Corinthians 1:30, 1 Corinthians 6:20, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 1:3-4, Galatians 3:13, Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 2:14, 1 Timothy 2:6, Titus 2:14, Hebrews 9:12, Hebrews 9:15, Hebrews 9:22, Hebrews 9:26, 1 Peter 1:17-21, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 Peter 1:18-19, 1 John 1:7, 1 John 2:1-2, and Revelation 5:9).

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Non-Christians will immediately understand this as a Christian song, intending to showcase the benefits of following Jesus.  I mentioned in section 1 how the lack of cost can create false converts.  It becomes a much bigger issue with unbelievers, especially those who know little to nothing about Christianity.  Yes, the benefits are good and agree with Scripture; However, many people want to love God for the same reason that a farmer might love a cow: not for what it is, but for the milk and cheese it provides.  It is great to share the good things about Christianity and the things God does for us, but we also need to communicate our response to it, even if it’s something small.

Score: 4/10

4. What does this song glorify?

Though I highly criticized the lack of our response to following Jesus, it is my belief that this absence of information does not take away much from God’s glory throughout these lyrics.  He has done so much for us and that ought to be celebrated.

Score: 8/10

Closing Comments

Overall, I found Rescuer to be a decent song.  While I applaud Rend Collective’s efforts to array Christianity’s advantages that glorify Christ, its potential to create false converts cannot be ignored.  Yet, despite my negative comments, it presents an accurately biblical narrative regarding Christ’s rescue and its effect on our eternal destiny.

Final Score: 8/10

Artist Info

Track: Rescuer (Good News) (listen to the song)

Artist: Rend Collective

Album: Good News

Genre: Alternative Rock, Worship

Release Year: 2018

Duration: 3:28

Agree?  Disagree?  Don’t be shy or have a cow!  Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.

*Copyright © 2017 Shout! Music Publishing (APRA) (adm. in the US and Canada at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) / Musical Moodswing (SESAC) Rend Family Music (NS) Capitol CMG Paragon (BMI) Capitol CMG Amplifier (SESAC) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Updates:

03/25/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement.

04/12/2019 – It is not fair for me to criticize this song for a lack of cost when I did not penalize other songs for not including it.  Therefore, I altered the overall score from 7.5/10 to 8/10.